Falk and Cieslewicz Announce Public Health Merger Goes to Madison Common Council and County Board This Week
March 15, 2004
Sharyn Wisniewski (608) 267-8823
Melanie Conklin (608) 266-4611
County Executive
- The Mayor and County Executive will appoint a single board of public health to oversee the departments. The existing city and county boards of public health will be dissolved.
- The Mayor and County Executive will appoint a single department director to direct the city and county public health departments, subject to confirmation by the Common Council and County Board of Supervisors.
- Within one year after the creation of the public health board, city and county public health services will consolidate the following areas:
- Establish one point of entry for anyone seeking public health services, such as linking people to needed public health services, diagnosing and investigating health problems and hazards in the community, and informing and educating people about health issues,
- Merge, with one manager, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs, that provides food and nutrition information to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants and children under the age of 5,
- Make information and data services compatible between the two departments,
- Streamline emergency preparedness,
- Conduct a community Health Assessment, and
- Plan for communicable and chronic disease control.